January 5, 2021
As we all adapt to the new lockdown rules, Hannah Patterson from our Fundraising department shares the ways she and her family are coping, and some ideas to keep hopeful in the coming weeks.
Continue reading “Staying hopeful in the new lockdown”January 1, 2021
Christmas Day is behind us and 2021 is arriving at last. As the New Year approaches and we look ahead to COP26 in Glasgow – the UN’s climate summit for world leaders – it’s a crucial year in the fight for our world and its poorest communities. Grace Cowley, CAFOD’s Community Fundraising Manager, explains how you can start the year with people and planet in mind.
Continue reading “Get 2021 off to a green start”December 18, 2020
CAFOD’s Director, Christine Allen, looks back on a year that has challenged us all. Thanks to the overwhelming and humbling support shown by the Catholic community, remarkable achievements have been made in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
Continue reading “2020: A year of challenge and hope”May 22, 2020
Friday 22 May is International Day for Biological Diversity. From his garden in London, CAFOD’s Ben Payne considers the wonders of our natural environment and the struggles of indigenous peoples around the world to protect our common home.
Continue reading “Finding happiness through biodiversity”May 15, 2020
Five years on from its publication – writes CAFOD’s Head of Theology, Linda Jones – Pope Francis’ groundbreaking encyclical still challenges us to think again, to think differently, and to renew our commitment to bring about positive change.
Continue reading “Shaping the future of our planet through Laudato Si’”August 9, 2019
When the pupils at Saint Joseph’s Primary School in Todmorden decided to take the pledge to LiveSimply, little did they know that one year later Bishop John Arnold would be visiting to commend their achievements.
Continue reading “How one school’s LiveSimply pledge has transformed their community”May 27, 2019
Catherine from our Theology team reflects on the climate emergency facing the Earth, our common home, its impact on the lives of those who are poorest, and how Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ offers hope and inspiration for action.
Continue reading “Pope Francis’ words of hope for Our Common Home”February 12, 2018
Susy works in the Theology team at CAFOD. This Lent, inspired in part by Laudato Si’, she will be going vegan. She tells us more about her reasons for abstaining from animal products and what she’s going to miss the most.
Thirty years ago my brother showed me a video (yes, it was a video in those days!) of a factory farm and from that day on I have been vegetarian. Or, to be more accurate, pescatarian.
I decided that there was so much choice in terms of available food, that there was no need to eat meat. I didn’t find it hard to be honest and I do not miss meat at all. However, when I spent a year in Chile, I think I must have been one of only two vegetarians in the whole country and I was viewed as somewhat suspect!
Thirty years on, I am now preparing to go vegan for Lent and hoping that I will start getting into habits that may last a life-time.
Have you decided what to give up for Lent yet? Tell us on Twitter or take our Lent quiz for inspiration.
January 23, 2016
Last month Julie Cox from St John Fisher Parish, Rochester, travelled to Cameroon to visit Sr Annette, who shares her deep conviction to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the poor. Here she shares her experience of “ecological conversion”.
In 2011, when the livesimply Parish Award Scheme was launched by CAFOD, I heard Fr. Sean McDonagh SSC speak passionately about the integrity of Creation and the impacts of climate change. A seed was sown and I continued to attend subsequent livesimply meetings, learning more about the connection between our Christian faith and human-ecology.
During a Creation-focused meeting at the Franciscan Study Centre, Canterbury, I had the good fortune to meet a Franciscan Sister from Cameroon, Sr Annette Tangwa TSSF. We became close friends, sharing a passion to restore Creation.
Find out more about becoming a liveSimply parish
I had the great privilege of reconnecting with my dear friend Sr Annette last November when I travelled to Cameroon. What struck me when I first arrived in this central African country was the warmth, openness and receptivity of the Cameroonian people. It was a truly wonderful experience to be among a rural community centred on the parish of the Sacred Heart, Shisong.
Continue reading “Joyfully Live in Fellowship with Creation”
